Depth of Time
by Paradox Tremors
Summary: Heather Faith Dangerfield had made a promise. And the unwavering need to keep it has her and Holly Marshall rushing off to the Gold Coast of Australia. Kim Sertori had to survive the cancer. She had to live in order for the future to play out correctly.


Author's Notes

**:) **I highly suggest you read **Kaattee's** H2O stories **Belonging **and **Full Moon Rising** to understand just who "Cora Reagan Dean" is and her importance to Lewis McCartney and the three original mermaids—Emma, Cleo, and Rikki.

This is an **"Alter-Reality"** type story that **deviates** from the original H2O Just Add Water Series, the original Land of the Lost Series, and Kaattee's world of H20 (just a touch here and there—some may or may not want to add this as a companion story to Kaattee's stories).

**Synopsis:**

Six years into the future….

Heather Faith Dangerfield had made a promise. And the unwavering need to keep it has her and Holly Marshall rushing off to the Gold Coast of Australia. Kim Sertorihad to survive the cancer. She had to live in order for the future to play out correctly

**Depth of Time**

**~~OOOOooo~o0o~( **Preamble **)~o0o~oooOOOO~~**

**Lewis had just finished** setting up the moon pool when Cora broke the surface. She immediately found Lewis and then let her eyes dart around the cave, finding a few large flat pillows set up on the sand next to a picnic basket. She felt a slow smile spread across her face.

"I know this isn't for me, Lewis." She said softly, resting her arms on the edge of the pool behind him and smiling. He turned, surprised by the sudden voice and smirked a little.

"Of course not. It's for my _other_ wife," He grinned and Cora beamed happily and playfully flicked her fin at him, spraying him with a few drops of water before hoisting herself out of the pool. She sat on the edge and rang the excess water out of her dark hair and let it fall against her back. No sooner had she done it did she feel a warm towel wrap around her from behind and she felt her cheeks get warm, once again thanking God that blushing didn't show too well on her skin, and for the fact that it was dim in the cave aside from the lanterns that Lewis had brought. She smiled and settled against him contently, briefly letting her eyes cast to the night sky visible through the crater at the top of the moon pool. The stars were the only thing lighting the sky; this was the night of a new moon.

"You didn't have to do this, you know." She said quietly, lifting her brown eyes to meet Lewis's blue ones and playing with her locket shyly. He sat down at the edge of the pool next to her and smiled triumphantly.

"Well yeah, I know. But, I wanted to." He smirked and turned to face Cora, watching as she took a few minutes to dry off. She smiled warmly and let her eyes cast around the cave, settling on the picnic basket. She raised her eyebrows slightly in pleasant surprise.

"Lewis… Did you cook again?" She asked. Lewis blush a little and scratched his head.

"Uh. Well, about that… I tried. But I think Emma has pretty much given up on me by now, and I kind of had to take things into my own hands. If it's horrible, we can get take-away when we go home." He explained sheepishly. Cora beamed happily and leaned across and quickly kissed his cheek. It may have been a simple joy, but it was something that thrilled her nonetheless.

"Thank you so much! I'm sure it will be just perfect." She finished drying off and put the towel down on the sand gently, and within another few seconds her silvery tail disappeared and was replaced with the bathing suit and cover-up that she'd changed into before she left home. Lewis smiled at her and stood quickly, helping her up and the two of them sat comfortably on the pillows near the picnic basket. Sharing a smile, they began their meal.

Lewis smirked tiredly, finally relaxing after a rather crazy week. He sat back against the smooth rocky shelf in the moon pool and sighed contently, feeling the warm weight of his wife leaning against his side with her eyes closed. He sighed quietly and let his own eyes close as well; he may not have been a merman, but the water here made him feel better, too. He opened his eyes and glanced down at Cora and felt his smirk falter into a sad smile. Lewis could feel that her body was relaxed, but as for her mind… he knew she was in turmoil.

They had been trying for months on end to have a baby with no success, and the failures had Cora heartbroken. Lewis was at a loss; scientifically, biologically, there was no reason for the failures. Both of them were aware of that fact and the doctors had confirmed it. But whereas Lewis was struggling to find some sort of answer, Cora had thought she had realized what may be wrong: her being a mermaid.

Lewis sighed inaudibly and squeezed Cora slightly. He knew that her theory couldn't be the answer, but he also didn't have another explanation to try to sway her from thinking any other way. True, he was saddened by the string of "negatives" they had gotten, but he could not even begin to imagine how she was feeling – especially now that she had the wild notion in her head that the failures were her fault.

He frowned slightly and let his chin rest on top of her head and squeezed her gently again. Lewis knew it went deeper than that for Cora and he knew why, but he didn't even want to think about it at that second. He had brought her to the moon pool that night because he loved her, because he wanted her to momentarily let go of her turmoil. And, while it appeared to be working for the moment, he knew it wouldn't last.

Lewis gently planted a kiss in the middle of her now mostly dry wavy hair and let his eyes open. He felt his eyes focus on something strange out of the side of his vision, at the bottom of the pool down past Cora and lift his head slightly. There, tucked almost invisibly under the low rocks at the bottom of the pool was a strange blue stone. He cocked his head to the side curiously and pulled his arms away from around his wife and pushed himself down, sinking further into the water. Cora shifted and opened her eyes and blinked at him, concerned.

"Is everything okay?" She asked. Lewis nodded, but didn't pull his eyes away from the stone.

"Yeah… I think I see something down there, I'm just gonna grab it." He muttered quietly. Cora sat upright further, her body immediately snapping to attention and she tilted her head to the side.

"Are you sure you don't want me to get it? It might be easier; you know… the breathing underwater thing. I mean… I just mean that it's sort of deep…" She rambled, worried. Lewis pulled his eyes away from the stone and smiled warmly at her. He knew that she worried about him, and it wasn't that he didn't appreciate the offer, but not tonight.

Tonight he wanted her to forget about her tail and the problems she thought it was causing; but the second she slipped entirely under the saltwater in the pool, she would transform again. He shook his head quickly and without another word, he inhaled deeply and sunk down under the surface.

Cora leaned forward and looked down into the water, watching him carefully. Sure enough, after a few seconds Lewis's head broke the surface, and in another moment he had swum back over to where Cora remained perched at the edge of the pool. She smiled and peered down at his closed fist curiously.

"What is it?" She asked quietly. Lewis looked down at his own fist and moved to pull his hand out of the water.

"It's some kind of weird blue rock that was down there a little ways under the pool's wall…" He began, but when he opened his hand he froze, "That's strange." He raised his eyebrows and stared down at the object in his open palm. The blue stone, now out of the water, had turned crimson and shrunken to about half the size it had been just a moment ago. Lewis was still for a moment, but then his eyebrows furrowed in thought.

He dipped his hand back under water and the two of them watched as the stone immediately appeared blue and much larger. He pulled the rock up out of the water and once more it had shrunken and appeared red against Lewis's hand. Cora caught on as well and blinked down at it in awe.

"Wow. I know these moon pools are magic, but… wow, I've _never_ seen anything _like_ that!" She mumbled in quiet astonishment. Lewis looked up at her and felt a slow content smile spread across his face when he saw the childlike enthusiasm in her eyes. This night was the happiest he had seen her in a few days, and it made him so happy. He smirked and reached for her hand gently, pulling it out and putting the stone in her hand.

"It's yours, now." He said, closing her fingers around it. Cora's head perked up attentively and she looked down at him in surprise.

"…Really? You don't want to run any tests on it?" She asked quickly, her voice slightly excited. Lewis smiled wider and shook his head. He hoisted himself up and returned to his seat next to her in the water.

"Nope, no tests. It's yours." He replied, grinning contently as he held onto her again. Cora turned to face him and beamed happily.

"Thank you!" She giggled quietly, amused by her own enthusiasm and wound her arms around his shoulders and kissed him gently before pulling away carefully, turning to place the strange stone over by the rest of their belongings.

Lewis watched her quietly and felt a warm smile grow on his face. Seeing her happy made him happy, and he was glad that she had been able to finally relax. He sighed inaudibly; he knew Cora felt like she was failing him no matter how many times he told her she wasn't. She never had, and after four years of being with her in which there seemed to be endless tests that tried to pull them apart, Lewis was certain of one thing: he never wanted anyone else. He felt his lips twitch up into a smirk as he watched her messily pull her dark hair down and let it fall across her shoulders and upper arms. To Lewis, she was absolutely beautiful outside and in. He wanted more than anything for her to just be happy, like she deserved.

As she turned back around, Lewis felt his still-wet hand reach out to affectionately cup the side of her face. His smirk pulled into a devious smile and he watched as Cora's signature shy grin curve onto her face, and he chuckled quietly. In another moment she had slipped off of her seat on the edge of the moon pool and moved in front of Lewis quietly, half standing and half floating in the water, level with him as he sat. The familiar warmth flooded her cheeks as she safely wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again. Lewis smiled through their kiss and affectionately pulled his wife up into his lap, resting his hands on her hips and tugging gently on the strings on either side of her swimsuit bottoms. They would have a child when the time was right. But until that time came, there was no harm in having fun _trying_…

…But what neither of them noticed was the soft supernatural glow that suddenly though covertly shimmered through the water surrounding them.

A few weeks later ….

**~~OOOOooo~o0o~( **End ofPreamble **)~o0o~oooOOOO~~**

**:-) Author's Note: Originally published 10-10-2010. Written by ****Kaattee. Reviews, comments, and thoughts are welcome.**


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